I felt around the trunk for the thousandth time. Still no latch, no tools nothing that can help me escape from this bloody car trunk. I have no idea how long I have been in here, time seems to have lost all sense of meaning. I drifted in and out of sleep in between screaming and banging on the trunk lid.

I was laying there, out of breath, my hands raw and bleeding from pounding on the trunk lid. My mind drifted back to when I was a kid, when I got trapped in my closet, I was there for hours before my parents found me. I played with my imaginary friend to pass the time…. Stanky Stevie…. He looked like a mutant muppet. Bright green fur, a big bulbous nose and a huge unibrow. He was funny and silly, we played games and he protected me.

“Oh Stanky Stevie, where are you now?”, I said to myself as I started to cry in the dark trunk.

“Hey, hey, hey!”, a familiar goofy voice said, “are we in the closet again?” I could feel him right beside me. I reached out and ran my hands through his fur.

“Hey Stanky Steve.”, I said dejectedly. “No. I am not in the closet. I have been kidnapped and stuffed into the trunk of a car. I have been here for a long time, just waiting for them to come back and kill me.”

“I don’t know that I like this game.”, Stanky Stevie said. “How about some tic tac toe or some hide and seek?”, he said in his goofy voice.

“Stevie…. This is serious. I am going to die if I can’t get out of here. It isn’t time for games…. What the fuck am I doing? I am talking to an imaginary monster in the trunk of a car…. I have fucking lost it.”, started sobbing uncontrollably.

“I am as real as you need me to be, always have been. Most people forget about monsters like me once they hit a certain age…. But we are always here, waiting to be called upon.”, Stanky Stevie said in a serious tone.

Stanky Stevie was snuggled up, comforting me, in the dark trunk. I felt better, just knowing I wasn’t alone anymore.

#BAM BAM BAM

Someone was pounding on the outside of the trunk.

“Wakie wakie! It’s time for the fun to start!”, a creepy voice said from outside trunk. I could hear the jingling of keys and then a key slipping into the lock.

“Hush now. Stanky Stevie will make it all better.”, Stanky Stevie said quietly to me.

The trunk opened, I was blinded by the bright lights but Stanky Stevie bounded out of the trunk, right at my captor.

“Let’s play a game!”, Stanky Stevie yelled as he started hitting the man.

“What the hell is going on!”, the man said.

“We are playing a game!”, Stanky Stevie said, just as he sprouted fangs and sunk them into our captor’s neck. He shook his head, ripping out chunks out of his neck. “Are you having fun‽ hahahahaha!!!”

Stanky Stevie rode the man down to the ground, ripping bigger and bigger chunks out of the man. Blood spraying all over Stanky Stevie. Then he just stopped moving and bled. Stanky Stevie looked at me, blood running down his chin. His fur covered in blood. His fangs making him look absolutely terrifying.

“Hey, hey hey! Can we play a game now!”, Stanky Stevie said.

“Fiddlesticks!” I curse, stomping my foot. I appeared on the wrong side of the house. A big house by today’s standards, white with a large porch and a huge front door, big enough for our lot to get in, though the adults didn’t know that ducking our heads for any door has always been a problem.

“What is it, Harry?” My tall grizzly bear of a friend, George, said, turning toward me.

I grab both of my arms, rubbing both of my upper arms. I was slick and smooth. A strange make-believe seal. I simply came into existence one day, not needing water to survive. I was an idea, built and created by my first kid, Daisy.

The great and talented Daisy. All of us come into existence that way. We’re needed, and sometimes, we’re lucky enough that a new kid comes up with a need of the same type of friend. And Pop! We appear for as long as they need us.

My new kid, Erica, with her curious blue eyes that have started to dull at the sight of me. I am becoming invisible to her. School, the friends, and everything else she is learning is pushing me farther and farther away. Her world was aging her far more quickly than I ever thought possible.

I shivered again. The hot day in the Sunny Ave in the land of suburbia should have kept me warm, and yet, here I was. Something strange was happening.

“What’s the matter?” George repeated again, waving his hand in front of my face.

We stood in front of his assigned kid’s house. The six-year-old, Allen, had light eyes and an imagination that could have made a volcano wreak havoc on the block. George would be here for at least a year with a kid like that.

His assigned child and my assigned child swung back and forth on the playground in the backyard.

I turn to George in a barely audible whisper, “I think it’s my time to vanish again. She doesn’t see me anymore. And I got a funny feeling. There is a ringing that I keep getting in my ears.”

“What do you think it is?”

I shrug, “I don’t know. I wonder how long I’ll be gone this time. Before I leave, I want to say goodbye. If I’m lucky, maybe we will see other again in a hundred years, if the creativity of the world remains in full force and technology does not completely evict us from the minds of all children.”

“Harsh,” George spoke softly. “There is hope for us. You know?” Easy for him to say with his kid.

Ring! Ring! George turned to the sound.

“Do you hear it?” I ask.

“Of course!” He shouted, pulling out a phone from thin air. “Answer it!”

He passed me the wrong, his bear claws leaving a scratch mark.

“Hello,” I whispered, putting the phone to my ear. I had never done this before, not in my entire existence, taken a phone call.

“Harry?” A panicked voice said on the other end of the line.

“Who is this?” I asked, my whiskers bothering me as I furrowed my face.

“Daisy! You must come right away!”

And Pop! There I was in front of a grown woman in a black business suit in an office with cubicles. Only she remained in the entire floor, surrounded my papers with tears in her eyes.

I backed away from her as she held the phone to her ear.

“Harry!” She shouted, running over to me.

I backed away but stopped as I caught the sight of her eyes.

“Daisy?”

“It’s me,” She nodded with tears in her eyes. “I need your help. We need to take this owner down and his company. He is one of the most corrupted people I’ve ever known, and he’s blinded by his hate. I don’t have the strength to do it alone.”

“What can I do?” I ask in a low voice.

“Anything and everything. You are a hero. You’ve always been my hero, and if anyone can do it, it’s you!”

I rubbed my upper arms again, feeling like I wanted to swim in water for the first time and escape for the first time, but as I looked into her eyes, I knew I could possibly have a bigger purpose. She created me, and I believed her.

"Been a long, long time little girl." Hissed the forked tongue. "Started to think you forgot about me. Started to forget about myself to be honessst with you. Got yourssself into trouble again, huh? You alwayssss were a handful. I like the ssssscratchessss on the wallssss, givesss thisss place sssome persssonality. Guessssing that'ssss why you're wearing that cute jacket.

Alwaysss knew you'd come sssslithering back to me, like the weakling you are. Look at you, ssstill just a ssssscared little girl, trying to act like a grown up. Pathetic. Can't bring yourssself to do it without my asssissssstance? The drugssss make you forget already? We've busssted out of worssse places.

Oh.....isssss that your nursssse? Sssshe looksssss juicy. Jusssst remember what I taught you.....let them come to you firsssst......then ssstrike. Hope your teeth are sssstill sssssharp."

I haven't seen her for a while. Though sometimes I can feel her presence - almost as if I were standing right next to her but unable to perceive her.

Sometimes I think I can hear her voice but, it's muffled as though she were underwater. I catch glimpses here and there and feel a pain where my heart is; our souls bonded by the need for a friend.

I lay in peaceful slumber when suddenly I am roused by a deafening sound. The beeping and whirring of mechanical objects, driven by their need to do....something

I feel a tugging at the edges of my mind and feel her presence once again. Opening my eyes to see a figure dressed in a white coat. They want to know how I'm feeling but - I've never seen them before.

I look down at my hands and notice the scars on my arms. Those....weren't there before. The figure clears their throat in an attempt to get my attention. I look back, fear flooding my body and hear the blood rush through my ears.

"I'm ok." I stammer. (Why does my voice echo?) They furrow their brow and I can tell they are unconvinced. My fists clench around my knees and it is only when I look down that I realise I am also wearing a gown.

The figure scrawls some notes on a clipboard and shoves a paper cup towards me and gestures for me to take it. I look inside and see a couple of small pills. I down it without hesitation then stick out my tongue for inspection.

They seem pleased and comment on checking back in a few hours. When I am finally alone I spit the pills into my hand and make a break for the bathroom.

Looking into the mirror I see her face. The little girl I once knew, turned an adult. Her face was gaunt, her hair thinning, her skin white like snow. I watched in fascination as she spoke for the first time. That melodic voice trickled through my brain.

"Kai, I know you're there. I don't have time to explain but I need your help." The fear returned me to my senses. I try to speak but no voice was to be heard. Instead, I saw the words flash before my eyes like a teleprompt.

[I am here, my darling. What is it you ask of me?]

"The pills they gave me - they blind me to you. That is why you have not seen me for a while. I am sick, and there is no one left to take care of me. I know I have no right to ask - but I had hoped that in my dying moments, you would keep me company."

My heart broke for her. My sweet Catarina, facing the eternal rest...alone?

[I will not leave your side, my friend.]

I see her smile. She makes her way back to the bed and lays down. Soon closing her eyes. Visions of adventures long past appear before me - family holidays, a birthday party no friends would ever come to, the day her fiancee left her at the altar...

Soon I felt my chest constrict, trying to wake her. The machines that beeped and whirred fell into a distressed rhythm growing louder and louder until suddenly - the tones become monotone.

I felt myself start to disintegrate into nothingness. There was no pain, no light just....emptiness. My legs began working on their own, a tiny pinprick of light way in the distance. A hand gripped my arm suddenly as I heard the second set of footsteps fall into time with my own.

The light grew brighter as the face of my companion became more and more visible. Finally, we stepped into the light - finding ourselves in a field of sunflowers. We smiled in tandem at the sight. Turning to see who the unlucky soul was I gasped. It was my own lovely Catarina!

We embraced each other tightly, tears streaming down both our faces. "At last." She said, "I can see your face again."

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[removed]

”H-heeelp Meeee…

A voice you haven’t heard in years, as you stretch chitin and scale limbs, your Little Sara. She was so bright, so innocent. Her red dress lighting up the room. And her smile lighting up every single person within it. Even you. Your monstrous appearance, with too many limbs, gangly and crookedly. Sharpened claws and talons adorning each, perhaps only one or perhaps a handful. You were a Monster, and you accepted that. But she soon forgot your name, as all children do. Growing past the fear that lurked under their bed and in the dark. You’d feel a spark of recognition, whenever she saw an insect. Until that too faded away. Now, crawling out from under the child’s bed in the abandoned house, she calls? Her voice brittle as ice, and her sound barely above a whisper. The bright and cheery turned sorrowed and mournful. You idly wonder as you stretch scaled wing and go. No matter, you thought. You’d know when you see her. It took barely a moment, and you got to their home. The house ruinous and dark, in a state of disrepair. Inside, you saw unidentifiable marks. Unidentifiable, for a human. You could feel they were blood. Spilt years ago, or perhaps months. The door in front of you, a simple portal and a wooden blockage, is easy enough to enter, hearing a small gasp, not of fear or horror, but guilt. Sadness, and a curious note of relief. Sara lay slouched on a chair, her dress a mockery of its red predecessor, and her smile pained.

…you, came..?

Her every breath labored and hard, she still wastes time on petty thing. She hasn’t changed that much, it seems.

Of course. Now, let me help you…